Educative Mentoring Chapter Summary

may not help a novice teacher to thoughtfully analyze the techniques used. In fact, if something works in the classroom for a student teacher it may actually prevent the student from attempting to reflect upon the successes of the classroom. For instance, a student teacher may deliver a science lesson that involves questioning and inquiry, which may go well. However, that success could be due to the environment the cooperating teacher has established in the classroom. When the student teacher gets her own classroom and attempts the lesson it may not be as effective. This, in turn, could lead to disappointment, disillusionment, and giving up on the method or lesson. The method may be effective, but because student teaching did not properly

This section dissects the ideas of induction, mentorship, and helping new teachers learn more about teaching. Chapter eight discusses the idea of educative mentoring and its place in the novice teacher’s life. The author points out that the differences in mentoring approaches can lead to confusion and ineffectiveness. Educative mentoring takes place when a mentor sees their role as a teacher of teaching. Rather than attempting to merely help novice teachers in their first years through emotional and procedural support, an educative mentor becomes the next step in a teacher’s continuum of learning. In essence, a mentor should be someone who guides a novice to think like a teacher. The mentor can model thinking and planning strategies to their mentee to help them understand the thought process that students exhibit. Having solid mentoring programs can assist new teachers in becoming more adept at their profession than trial and error

It is vitally important that a mentor be led by a vision of teaching to know where to guide a new teacher. The author shows that mentoring can provide great benefits, but it must be planned out well and follow-up is needed to ensure that the new teacher is gaining proper information and skills. In one example, a novice teacher works with a mentor for only a year. The following year, she avoids everything developed in the induction program. This teacher viewed the induction process as a case of someone else determining what she should do. When the mentor relationship ceased, she returned to her comfort zone even though it allowed students to fall through the cracks. Regardless of which mentor program is chosen, it is imperative that the mentor is properly trained to act in their role of teacher educator. Teaching elementary school does not necessarily mean that one is prepared to educate other teachers. Learning to teach is not completed in a four year undergraduate program, but continues throughout the entire course of a teacher’s career. Allowing new teachers to learn through a “sink or swim” approach is not fair or beneficial to teachers or their